Whilst strategies of increasing the police force and reviewing judicial practices certainly have their value in promoting law and order, similar measures have been adopted by numerous past governments without any consistent or lasting effect in bringing crime under control. Similarly, identifying potential delinquents at an early age has its value but is not going to stem the rising wave of crime in national life.

The policies of the Natural Law Party address the problem at its most fundamental level and eliminate the problem before it has arisen. The Natural Law Party will introduce the knowledge of Natural Law and programmes to develop higher states of consciousness at secondary school level to avert criminality before it has the chance to develop. Without such education, no amount of vigilance on the part of the police, and no amount of law making by the government will be able to maintain law and order. (See section on Education).

Education is responsible for training all young people to be able to fulfil their aspirations in a way that supports the well-being of the whole society. For this, students must develop broad comprehension, so that while focusing on their goals they naturally take into account the needs of others. In the past, education has not incorporated a scientific procedure to develop this quality of broad comprehension. As a result, students continue to violate the Laws of Nature, making mistakes and causing stress and suffering for themselves and others. Growing crime is the result of the growth of stress in individual life and society.

The Natural Law Party government will make available at all levels of education the practice of Transcendental Meditation so that students will develop unbounded awareness and inner happiness. They will grow in higher states of consciousness and the ability spontaneously to think and act fully in accord with Natural Law. This will be reflected in behaviour that is effective and nourishing to everyone in the environment.

Scientific research has shown that the educational programmes of the Natural Law Party develop higher levels of intelligence, creativity, and moral judgement. Research has also shown that among disadvantaged young people - who are more likely to become involved in crime or drug abuse - those who learn Transcendental Meditation become more emotionally self-sufficient and less likely to leave school early.

To reduce crime in the nation quickly and dramatically, the Natural Law Party offers a proven programme to reduce stress and create harmony, positivity and coherence in national consciousness. This programme is Maharishi's Group for a Government.

Twenty-four cities, in which one per cent of the population had been instructed in Transcendental Meditation, displayed significant decreases in crime rate during the next year and decreased crime rate trends during the subsequent five years. Reference: Journal of Crime and Justice, 4 (1981): 25-45.

This approach - A Group for a Government - is the only scientifically verified method to reduce crime consistently, immediately and substantially, in the whole society. In contrast to current approaches, which have proved costly and ineffective, the approach of the Natural Law Party makes use of Nature's principle of least action to enliven the orderliness of Nature in national life. This is achieved by creating an influence whereby the whole population will naturally behave in a nourishing, harmonious and life-supporting manner.

The Natural Law Party, upon forming the government, will quickly establish a permanent group of 7,000 professionals - TM-Sidhi experts, Yogic Flyers - to create an influence of coherence and relieve stress in the nation and the world as a whole. A new trend of reduction of crime will be seen in the days and weeks following the establishment of this group - at least a 20% drop immediately, with a continuation of this declining trend as long as the group is maintained.

The effectiveness of this programme has already been demonstrated many times including in Washington D.C. in 1993 and also in Britain. In March 1988, a permanent facility for a group of Yogic Flyers was established in Skelmersdale near Merseyside for the regular practice of the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programme.

Crime rate in Merseyside has fallen by 60% compared to other metropolitan areas since 1988 when a group of Yogic Flyers was set up nearby. Reference: Psychology, Crime and Law, (1996), Vol 2:3, pages 165-174.

Without this truly effective means of rehabilitation, Britain continues to face rising crime and high reconviction rates leading to the need to build more and more prisons. The current "prison works" policy is a national tragedy for Britain. Enormous amounts of money are wasted (it costs 75 million to build each prison) because prisons have proved ineffective in rehabilitating offenders - in fact, they serve as centres of intense stress in society which inevitably lead to greater levels of crime. By implementing its effective rehabilitation programme, the Natural Law Party offers to rehabilitate prisoners quickly, so that many prisons can be closed within a short period of time.

We have described above our three principal approaches to reduce crime. In fact, the policies of the Natural Law Party in many other areas will also contribute to creating a crime-free Britain. It is well recognised that poor education, the breakdown of the family and community, poor diet, economic failure, lack of vocational opportunities and many other factors contribute to the rising incidence of crime especially among young people. The Natural Law Party has uniquely effective policies and programmes in all of these areas.